Arts Academic Advising

Welcome to the Faculty of Arts at MRU!

Step 1: Read your advising guide

Review the first-year advising guide of your new program for registration information and recommended first-year courses for you degree.

You can also review transition information for new students in our Welcome Guide.

Fall 2025 major program planning sheets will be availble in April 2025.

Step 2: Plan your courses

Plan your course selection for fall semester: Identify courses you would like to take based on the pattern recommended for your major in the advising guide. For full-time status in a semester, the minimum number of credit-level courses required is three (3) to a maximum of five (5). As an Arts student, much of your course choice is up to you to decide, so explore possibilities and create a list of courses that you will search for when you reach Step 3.

1. Your first priority courses for registration are the specific ones listed for your major in the first-year course recommendations. For example, if you are in History you choose one to two HIST 1000-level courses for each of fall and winter semesters. Use the course descriptions in the Academic Calendar to explore your choices.
2. Next, select courses approved to satisfy General Education requirements of the degree. To assist with this selection, use the General Education list of approved courses available here. You can also explore possible courses by searching the Academic Calendar course descriptions.(Many of these tools are available in the Before you Register box in your Register & Pay tab of MyMRU.)
3. Electives are any 3-credit course that is not restricted to you and you satisfy the prerequisites to take. Course selection for General Education and electives is completely up to you. Typically, you are choosing 1000-level courses only (junior or first-year courses). An exception to this is that you can take Business-related courses at the 2000-level in first year (ACCT, ENTR, FNCE, HRES, INBU, LSCM, MGMT, MKTG, SINV).
   How to choose Electives

   Electives are any 3-credit course of interest that you are eligible to register. Electives are courses you might find interesting. You must be able to satisfy the prerequisite(s) and it must be a course that does not have a program restriction. You can search for electives in two possible ways:

   1. Use the General Education list of approved courses, The courses in the cluster lists are all interesting courses that any university would have on offer. If you have already filled a General Education position with a course, when you select another course from the same cluster list, it becomes an elective.

   2. Use the master list of courses "Courses" in the table of contents in the Academic Calendar. Any course can be an elective. When you read course descriptions, you may see an attribute in the description that says "GNED Cluster X Tier X." This means this course could be applied to General Education if you have the position open. If the position is filled, then it would be used as an elective. You may also see that a course does not have the "GNED Cluster X Tier X" attribute in the description. If this is the case, that course can only apply as an elective in your program. If you can satisfy the prerequisite and the course has no program restrictions when you try to register, this can be an elective. 

   In addition: Courses for your major that are in excess of the number required to fill the major (between 16-18 for most BA majors) can also be electives in your program. A maximum of 24 courses from one discipline are allowed to apply to degree requirements.

Step 3: Register your courses

Build your fall and winter schedule. Use the registration tutorials available online.

Visit our Tutorials page for useful videos to guide you on using mymru, our degree audit system (mruGradU8), course descriptions and how to register for your courses.

You can also use the My Schedule Builder (MSB) in your MyMRU > Register & Pay > Register section to help plan your schedule and register classes. 

You will want to register as soon as you can to get the best course selection. Using your list of identified courses from Step 2, begin your registration. There are two possible ways to plan and register courses:

Type 1 - Use the Registration Landing Page

1. Go to your MyMRU Register & Pay tab and find the link for the Registration Landing Page. You can use Look up classes in to browse courses to make a plan or you can use Add/Drop/Withdraw Classes to plan and register. 
2. Search Fall 2025 CREDIT for fall registration and WINTER 2026 CREDIT for winter registration for offered courses to register and build your fall and winter schedule of classes. Check out the Office of the Registrar website for further support and online tutorials. 
3. Be aware of days and times of courses because you are building your own schedule and you want to make sure you schedule time between classes for lunch and activities you want to do on campus.
4. Once you have added courses and see a Pending beside your selection, make sure to click Submit below to register the classes. 

Type 2 - Use My Schedule Bulider

1. Go to your MyMRU Register & Pay > Register section and find the link for My Schedule Builder. This tool will help you visualize, build your class schedule, and register classes. Follow the instructions at the link provided here. Don't forget to plan breaks for lunch, studying, working out, and just hanging out on campus.
2. Once you have a schedule you like, you Submit Schedule.
3. To help you understand what you see in the registration system, you can find registration assistance information on the Office of the Registrar website.

After you successfully add classes:

1. For feedback on your registration, track your selections in your mruGradU8 program audit tool located in your MyMRU My Program tab. Look for the blue icon with the grad hat! Click to open and click on Process New to refresh the information. You can also contact the Arts Academic Advisor with questions. See below for contact information. 
2. Register for New Student Orienation.In the registration system, search "Orientation" under the subject name and select the appropriate section for your admitted program and add this to your regsitration. Some of our NSO is done online thorughout the summer and fall as well as in person program orientation events for early September. More information will be communicated to your through your new MRU email. 
3. To make sure you like your timetable and to check details about your classes (times, days, location), locate your course schedule once created at  MyMRU>Register & Pay>Registration Landing Page>View Registration Information. Select the term you are looking for and click on the print icon. 

Step 4: More help is available

If you need additional help with the registration process use some of the helpful links below to assist you with getting registered in your fall classes.

1. Reread the program advising guide (above) for registration information and recommended first-year courses for your major and General Education requirements.
2. Use the General Education list of approved courses and the course descriptions in the Academic Calendar to assist with course selection.
3. Use the online registration tutorials.
4. Attend an online drop-in advising session through Google Meet. These sessions will be for students who have reviewed the materials and have questions. Please come prepared! Sessions will begin in mid April. 
5. Visit the Office of the Registrar website for answers to common registration related questions such as error messages and wait listing for courses. You can also contact the Registration Help Line by phone at 403.440.3303 or toll free at 1.877.676.0686 or by email at creditregistration@mtroyal.ca.
6. To find out about textbooks go to MyMRU > Register & Pay tab > Books, locker and transportation. For technology requirements and approved software and online tools to support student learning, go to the MyMRU > Academic Success > Technology Help. 

Still have questions about being a new student?

Review transition information for new students in our Welcome Guide.

There are also FAQs about the Bachelor of Arts. 

You can also contact Arts Academic Advising:

Rachel Doe
Arts Academic Advisor
EA3157 
403.440.8585
artsadvising@mtroyal.ca
mtroyal.ca/artsadvising

Welcome to the Faculty of Arts at MRU!

You can find additional information for new students here.

Step 1: Understand your degree

You are fulfilling three degree components: major, General Education, electives.

Depending on your Bachelor of Arts major, you will need between 16-20 courses for the major, 10 General Education courses, and between 5 to 14 electives, for a total of 40 courses or 120 credits.

Bachelor of Interior Design students will need 30 INDS and DEST courses (internship is non-credit), 10 General Educaiton, and 1 elective.

Please access your mruGradU8 program audit to help understand how transfer credit is being applied to your new Mount Royal Bachelor degree program.

1. Go to MyMRU > My Program tab > click the icon for mruGradU8 (blue icon of grad cap). Click on Process New to refresh the information.
2. Review the Bachelor of Arts program information in the Academic Calendar.
3. If you are entering the Bachelor of Arts, but your goal is to move to a different MRU program, you can use curriculum informtion for any MRU program in the Academic Faculties and Programs section of the Academic Calendar. Some programs will have restricted courses. 
4. Fall 2025 major program planning sheets will be available in April 2025. Check back here. 

Step 2: Plan your courses

Bachelor of Arts students: Depending on your situation, you may find it useful to use the Bachelor of Arts First-year advising guide to assist with registration. If you are intent on completing the major you have been admitted to, and still need some first-year courses, review this resource. If you do not want to pursue your admitted program and have another program at MRU in mind, please contact the Arts academic advisor to discuss your situation at artsadvising@mtroyal.ca or 403.440.8585. If emailing, please include your desired program. 

Bachelor of Interior Design students: Use the Bachelor of Interior Design First-year advising guide to plan your registration, understand your degree structure and Genearl Education courses. 

Use the mruGradU8 program audit tool for course planning - MyMRU > My Program tab > click the icon for mruGradU8 (blue icon of grad cap). If you were completing courses in Winter 2025 semester or Spring 2025 semester, these will not appear in the record until after the end of June when your final transcipt is processed. If you have recently been attending a post secondary outside Alberta, you will need to make arrangements to have your final transcript sent from your institution. Deadline for transcripts is August 1. If you attended any colleges or universities in Alberta, MRU will request your final transcripts. 

Since you will have transfer credit applying to various requirements, you may need support to determine your registration. Also, see Step 4 below for details on challenging assigned transfer credit. Please contact the Arts academic advisor with your questions at 403.440.8585 or email artsadvising@mtroyal.ca.

Understanding the General Education pattern structure for you new MRU degree will assist in your course selection: Please see the General Education courses section in the first-year advising guide for you new degree program.

For additional help with General Education course selection, you can use the General Education list of approved courses.

Electives are any 3-credit course of interest that is not restricted to you and for which you satisfy prerequisites (if applicable). You can explore possible courses by searching the Academic Calendar course descriptions. 

Step 4: Register your courses

Build your fall and winter schedule. Use the registration tutorials available online.

Visit our Tutorials page for useful videos to guide you on using mymru, our degree audit system (mruGradU8), course descriptions and how to register for your courses.

You can also use the My Schedule Builder (MSB) in your MyMRU Register & Pay tab to help visualize and plan your schedule. 

You will want to register as soon as you can to get the best course selection. Using your list of identified courses from Step 2, begin your registration. There are two possible ways to plan and register courses:. 

Type 1 - Use the Registration Landing Page

1. Go to your MyMRU >Register & Pay > Register section and find the link for the Registration Landing Page. You can use Look up classes in to browse courses to make a plan or you can use Add/Drop/Withdraw Classes to look up, plan and register. 
2. Search Fall 2054 CREDIT for fall registration and WINTER 2026 CREDIT for winter registration for offered courses to register and build your fall and winter schedule of classes. Check out the Office of the Registrar website for further support and online tutorials. 
3. Be aware of days and times of courses because you are building your own schedule and you want to make sure you schedule time between classes for lunch and activities you want to do on campus.
4. Once you have added courses and see a Pending beside your selection, make sure to click Submit below to register the classes. 

Type 2 - Use My Schedule Bulider

1. Go to your MyMRU > Register & Pay > Register > My Schedule Builder. This tool will help you visualize, build your class schedule, and register classes. Follow the instructions at the link provided here. Don't forget to plan breaks for lunch, studying, working out, and just hanging out on campus.
2. Once you have a schedule you like, you Submit Schedule.
3. To help you understand what you see in the registration system, you can find registration assistance information on the Office of the Registrar website.

After you successfully add classes:

1. For feedback on your registration, track your selections in your mruGradU8 program audit tool located in your MyMRU My Program tab. Look for the blue icon with the grad hat! Click to open and click on Process New to refresh the information. You can also contact the Arts Academic Advisor with questions. See below for contact information. 
2. Register for New Student Orienation.In the registration system, search "Orientation" under the subject name and select the appropriate section for your admitted program and add this to your regsitration. Some of our NSO is done online thorughout the summer and fall as well as in person program orientation events for early September. More information will be communicated to your through your new MRU email. 
3. To make sure you like your timetable and to check details about your classes (times, days, location), locate your course schedule once created at  MyMRU>Register & Pay>Registration Landing Page>View Registration Information. Select the term you are looking for and click on the print icon. 
4. See the Preparing for your fall section on this webpage. 

If you feel you need more assistance to understand how your transfer credit is being applied to your new Mount Royal BA program and to assist with determining courses for fall registration, you can call 403.440.8585 to discuss your situation or to book a one-on-one appointment:

Rachel Doe
Arts Academic Advisor
EA3157
403.440.8585
artsadvising@mtroyal.ca
mtroyal.ca/artsadvising

Congratulations on your offer of Admission to Bachelor of Arts - Criminal Justice Fall 2025

All students admitted have academic advising holds placed on their account. please contac Leann Acheson at lacheson@mtroyal.ca to have the hold removed. In her absence, you can contact artsadvising@mtroyal.ca to have the hold removed.

Curriculum Information:
Bachelor of Arts - Criminal Justice is actually comprised of four main areas:
Criminal Justice core classes (denoted by CRJS and course title and name - for example CRJS 1001 - Introduction to Criminology),
Criminal Justice Options (CRJS xxxx - these are listed at the bottom of the page)
General Education (GNED) and
Open Electives.

Program Planning Guide for BA Criminal Justice 

CRJS Core Classes:
These courses are only offered in Fall OR Winter semesters only -CRJS courses are not offered in the Spring Semester. For example - CRJS 1001 will be offered in FALL ONLY. CRJS 1001 will not be offered in a Winter semester.
CRJS has a program restrictions on it's CRJS courses so only CRJS Students are able to take our courses.
Please ensure that your CRJS core classes are completed in the year that they are offered - our program is designed to be sequential which means that classes completed in year one will need to be obtained in order to proceed to year 2.
There should not be any reason why you are not able to register for the courses especially in first year - there are more than enough sections.As a student, you will learn about being able to map out your program.
Our department does implement pre-requisite checking on our courses - so register in the courses that you are eligible for. If you are unsure - please refer to the Mount Royal University Academic Calendar.
We encourage the blending of courses - both CRJS and non CRJS courses. If you are registering for CRJS courses.

CRJS Options:
The courses that are Justice Options are listed at the bottom of the page - the course description is the Calendar.
CRJS options are available to students in Year 2 of their program.

General Education:
Students that are completing any Bachelor's Degree at Mount Royal are required to complete a total of 10 courses of General Education (see the first-year advising guide General Education courses section for structure).
There are four Clusters and three different tiers or levels.
Students are required to obtain one class/cluster at the Foundation Level.
Students are required to obtain three courses at Level 2. Student must complete Cluster 1 Tier 2 and two courses from any other cluster.
Students are required to obtain three courses and must satisfy two areas.
Foundation courses have limited choice - a student only needs to complete one course/cluster HOWEVER the courses are offered each semester (Fall, Winter and/or Spring and Summer) due to popularity
Tier 2 - these are traditionally introductory courses offered from the different faculties and programs
Tier 3 - these are traditionally more advanced courses offered from different faculties and programs.
You can review the General Education list of approved courses in the Academic Calendar.
We suggest that student complete the Foundation Tier in the first year of study
Start to review the Tier 2 courses as you may have the opportunity to obtain some of these in your first year.
GNED Foundations are NOT pre-requisites to access GNED Tier 2 courses.
GNED Foundation courses can fill very quickly in the Fall semester and it is important to have a Plan B for your courses - GNED Foundation courses are not pre-requisites for Tier 2. If you are unable to register for the Foundation course, you may want to consider a Tier 2 course.

Open Electives:
An open elective is any 3 credit hour course that is of interest to a student and can compliment your degree
Some of the higher level GNED courses may require pre- requisites of which they could be utilized in the degree
Students are required to complete 8 open electives in their degree

Registration of courses:

You will want to register as soon as you can to get the best course selection.  There are two possible ways to plan and register courses:. 

Type 1 - Use the Registration Landing Page

1. Go to your MyMRU > Register & Pay > Register section and find the link for the Registration Landing Page. You can use Look up classes in to browse courses to make a plan or you can use Add/Drop/Withdraw Classes to look up, plan and register. 
2. Search Fall 2024 CREDIT for fall registration and WINTER 2025 CREDIT for winter registration for offered courses to register and build your fall and winter schedule of classes. Check out the Office of the Registrar website for further support and online tutorials. 
3. Be aware of days and times of courses because you are building your own schedule and you want to make sure you schedule time between classes for lunch and activities you want to do on campus.
4. Once you have added courses and see a Pending beside your selection, make sure to click Submit below to register the classes. 

Type 2 - Use My Schedule Bulider

1. My Schedule Builder will help you visualize, build your class schedule, and register classes. Go to MyMRU > Register & Pay > Register > My Schedule Builder. Follow the instructions at the link provided here. Don't forget to plan breaks for lunch, studying, working out, and just hanging out on campus.
2. Once you have a schedule you like, you Submit Schedule.
3. To help you understand what you see in the registration system, you can find registration assistance information on the Office of the Registrar website.

After you successfully add classes:

1. For feedback on your registration, track your selections in your mruGradU8 program audit tool located in your MyMRU My Program tab. Look for the blue icon with the grad hat! Click to open and click on Process New to refresh the information. You can also contact the Arts Academic Advisor with questions. See below for contact information. 
2. Register for New Student Orienation.In the registration system, search "Orientation" under the subject name and select the Criminal Justice section and add this to your regsitration. Some of our NSO is done online thorughout the summer and fall as well as in person program orientation events for early September. More information will be communicated to your through your new MRU email. 
3. To make sure you like your timetable and to check details about your classes (times, days, location), locate your course schedule once created at  MyMRU>Register & Pay>Registration Landing Page>View Registration Information. Select the term you are looking for and click on the print icon. 
4. See the Preparing for your fall section on this webpage. 

New Student Orientation - Fall 2025
It is highly recommend that you attend New Student Orientation in early September 2024. NSO is typically the first two days after Labour Day. We look forward to meeting you and will be providing a significant amount of information about our program

Leann Acheson -BA. M.Ad.Ed.

Tried to register and still confused? Have questions about your course selection? Please join a virtual drop-in session. These will be offered April - July. New dates are added weekly. Please use your new MRU email account to sign into the session.

These sessions will start at the time listed, so please be on time (session will close after 30 minutes if no one joins).

You are responsible for registering your own courses.

To get the most out of this opportunity, it helps if you have made attempts at preparing registration using the New Student advising information before joining. 

These planning guides are based on the 2025-2026 Academic Calendar curriculum and are intended as a GUIDE only. You will find your current program audit in mruGradU8, which is accessible through your MyMRU > My Program tab. You can also find your curriculum information in the 2025-2026 Academic Calendar under Academic Faculties & Programs section.

BA major in Anthropology

BA major in English

BA major in History

BA major in Policy Studies

BA major in Psychology

BA major in Sociology

Bachelor of Interior Design